U.S. patent number 4,437,963 [Application Number 06/300,812] was granted by the patent office on 1984-03-20 for apparatus for electrolyzing water.
Invention is credited to David R. Yeoman.
United States Patent |
4,437,963 |
Yeoman |
March 20, 1984 |
Apparatus for electrolyzing water
Abstract
Apparatus for the electrolysis of water comprises an elongated
tube and an electrolysis assembly provided at one end of the tube
defining an interior chamber which constitutes an extension
thereof. The electrolysis assembly includes at least one fixed
stator and at least one rotatably mounted rotor and drive means for
rotating the rotor in the form of propeller blades mounted on a
shaft which is connected to a transmission to the rotor. A pair of
fixed electrodes extend across the interior chamber of the
electrolysis assembly. A matrix of Wiegand modules are affixed to
the rotor and a corresponding matrix of magnet pairs are fixed to
the stator. Appropriate circuitry is provided which couples the
positive and negative leads of the Wiegand modules to respective
ones of the electrodes. When the tube is immersed in a body of
water so that its upper end extends out from the water and so that
the electrolysis assembly is completely immersed, water tends to
rush into the interior chamber under equilibrium forces whereby
water tends to seek its own level to rotate the drive means thereby
rotating the rotor relative to the stator whereupon the Wiegand
modules generate a voltage which is impressed across the electrodes
to electrolyze water which comes into contact therewith.
Inventors: |
Yeoman; David R. (Bronx,
NY) |
Family
ID: |
23160687 |
Appl.
No.: |
06/300,812 |
Filed: |
September 10, 1981 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
204/228.3;
205/339; 204/278; 290/53; 204/237; 290/42 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F03B
13/00 (20130101); C25B 1/04 (20130101); C25B
9/00 (20130101); Y02E 60/366 (20130101); Y02E
60/36 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
C25B
1/00 (20060101); C25B 9/00 (20060101); C25B
1/04 (20060101); F03B 13/00 (20060101); C25B
001/04 (); C25B 015/08 (); F03B 013/10 (); F03B
013/12 () |
Field of
Search: |
;290/42,53
;204/129,275-278,229,237 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Valentine; Donald R.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Steinberg & Raskin
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. Apparatus for the electrolysis of water, comprising:
an elongated tube;
an electrolysis assembly provided at one end of said tube defining
an interior chamber constituting an extension of said tube, said
electrolysis assembly including,
at least one fixed stator and at least one rotatably mounted
rotor,
drive means for rotating the rotor adapted to be driven by a
flowing fluid,
a pair of fixed electrodes extending across said interior
chamber,
a matrix of modules, each module comprising bistable magnetic means
having a reversing polarity when exposed to an increasing magnetic
field and having respective positive and negative leads, affixed to
one of said rotor and stator and magnetic field generating means
provided on the other of said rotor and stator, and
circuit means coupling said positive and negative leads of said
modules to respective ones of said electrodes;
whereby upon a fluid being caused to flow through said interior
chamber, said drive means effect rotation, of said rotor with
respect to said stator whereupon said modules are exposed to
continuous excursions in magnetic field strength to generate a
voltage which is impressed across said electrodes to electrolyze
water coming into contact with the same.
2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said drive means comprise at
least one propeller mounted on a rotatable shaft located within
said interior chamber, and transmission means interconnecting said
shaft and said rotor whereby upon fluid flowing past said
propeller, said shaft is caused to rotate thereby rotating said
rotor.
3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said magnetic field
generating means comprise a plurality of magnet pairs affixed to
the other of said rotor and stator.
4. The combination of claim 3 wherein said matrix of modules are
affixed to said rotor and said magnet pairs are affixed to said
stator.
5. The combination of claim 4 wherein said circuit means include
conductive means for carrying the voltage generated by said modules
from said rotor to said fixed electrodes.
6. The combination of claim 5 wherein said conductive means
comprise positive and negative conducting rims connected to said
positive and negative leads of said modules respectively and
extending around the inner surface of said rotor, a first
conductive roller assembly electrically coupled to one of said
electrodes and including a roller engaging said positive conducting
rim and a second conductive roller assembly electrically coupled to
the other one of said electrodes and including a roller engaging
said negative conducting rim.
7. The combination of claim 1 wherein said at least one stator
comprises a shell-like structure defining an inner and an outer
stator, said rotor being situated between said inner and outer
stators and having a pair of inner and outer surfaces facing said
inner and outer stators, respectively.
8. The combination of claim 7 wherein said modules are affixed to
both of said pair of inner and outer surfaces of said rotor and
said magnetic field generating means are provided on both said
inner and outer stators.
9. The combination of claim 8 wherein said magnetic field
generating means comprise a plurality of magnet pairs affixed to
both said inner and outer stators.
10. An electrolysis assembly for electrolyzing water comprising at
least one fixed stator defining an interior chamber and at least
one rotatably mounted rotor; drive means for rotating the rotor; a
pair of fixed electrodes extending across said interior chamber; a
matrix of modules, each module comprising bistable magnetic means
having a reversing polarity when exposed to an increasing magnetic
field and having respective positive and negative leads, affixed to
one of said rotor and stator and magnetic field generating means
provided on the other of said rotor and stator; and circuit means
coupling said positive and negative leads of said modules to
respective ones of said electrodes.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
It has long been recognized that if the hydrogen on earth were
readily accessible it could become a major and virtually unlimited
source of energy. For example, when cooled and liquified, it could
serve as fuel for modified internal combustion engines and when
passed through fuel cells, it could generate electricity.
However, most of the hydrogen found on the earth is bound with
oxygen in the form of water. For this reason, there have been
numerous attempts to develop techniques of splitting water into its
two components, hydrogen and oxygen. Most recently, attempts have
been made to achieve such splitting by photosynthesis. In one such
arrangement, spinach chloroplasts are placed in a solution
containing various substances including enzymes which speed up the
reaction. In effect the energy of the sun is captured by the
chloroplasts which use the energy to disassociate a molecule of
water into its component parts, hydrogen and oxygen. This
technique, although promising, has not as yet proven feasible for
commercial applications.
It has been known for many years that water can be split by
electrolysis whereby an electric current passed through water
breaks the bond between the hydrogen and oxygen atoms in the water
molecules thereby releasing hydrogen as well as oxygen. However, it
has not been possible to adapt electrolysis processes to commercial
applications due to the fact that the amount of electricity
required to produce practical amounts of hydrogen has to the
present been prohibitively expensive.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide new
and improved methods and apparatus for the electrolysis of
water.
Another object of the present invention is to provide new and
improved methods and apparatus for the electrolysis of water
wherein substantially no external source of electricity is
required.
In accordance with the present invention, these and other objects
are attained by utilizing a recently discovered principle in the
field of electro-magnetics. In this connection, reference is made
to U.S. Pat. No. 3,820,090 issued June 25, 1974 to John R. Wiegand
which discloses a technique wherein a wire (hereinafter, a "Wiegand
wire") is specially treated so as to possess a unique magnetic
property whereby when it is moved past a magnet, the polarity of
the Wiegand wire will rapidly shift and generate strong electrical
pulses without any external power being supplied. Thus, by this
technique, the magnetic fields in a suitably prepared wire can be
made to reverse suddenly and this phenomenon can be used to
generate sharp, uniform electrical pulses. Such pulses can be
produced using only a short length of wire, a permanent magnet, and
a pick-up coil.
Thus, in an unmagnetized ferrous magnetic material, the magnetized
regions or domains are randomly oriented and thereby cancel each
others magnetic effect. If the material is placed in an external
magnetic field, the domains gradually shift polarity to line up
with the applied field until the material becomes magnetically
saturated, i.e., all its domains are neatly lined up in the
direction of the field. However, if the magnetic field is increased
in a gradual manner to its full strength, the domains will "snap"
into alignment at different times as various magnetic field values
are attained. This sudden snapping action is the well-known
"Barkhausen jump" and such jumps can be detected by a coil wrapped
around the material and in which a small voltage is generated as
described above.
The Wiegand wire essentially constitutes a wire formed of vicalloy
(vanadium cobalt alloy) which is work-hardened by suitably twisting
and tempering the same so that it has a permanent deformation that
helically winds around its circumference. Such configuration forces
the domains in the Wiegand wire to maintain their polarity when
exposed to an increasing magnetic field until a certain threshhold
is reached at which time the domain abruptly undergoes a single
"leap", i.e., the polarities of all of the domains are reversed
simultaneously. The effect of the magnetic leap is enhanced by the
wires twisted-in tension which renders it bistable. The magnetic
leap produces pulses that can be detected by a pick-up coil wrapped
around the wire. No power source is needed to pick up the
pulse.
Wiegand modules which comprise a copper sensing coil wound around a
short piece of Wiegand wire as well as literature describing the
operating parameters of the same, are available from Sensor
Engineering Co. of Hamden, Conn.
Briefly, the present invention incorporates a matrix of Wiegand
modules in a construction whereby equilibrium forces of a body of
water are utilized to create an appropriately varying magnetic
field to which the Wiegand modules are exposed whereby a voltage is
generated in the respective pick-up coils of the modules. The
voltages are summed and impressed across a pair of grids immersed
in the body of water so that the grids act as an anode and cathode,
respectively, to electrolyze the water.
In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the apparatus
includes an elongated tube having a substantially cylindrical
configuration over substantially its entire length and which is
adapted to be immersed in a body of water to obtain a substantially
vertical configuration. An electrolysis assembly is provided at the
lower end of the tube which includes at least one stator forming an
enlarged portion of the tube and a rotor rotatably mounted on the
tube. The stator defines an interior chamber which communicates
with the interior of the cylindrical tube and a pair of grids
extend in proximate relationship to each other transversely across
the chamber. A drive mechanism in the form of one or more rotary
propeller blades is mounted in the chamber and is suitably coupled
to the rotor in a manner such that as water passes the blades to
rotate the same, the rotor is caused to continuously rotate in
close proximity to the stator.
A matrix of Wiegand modules are fixed to the rotor and a
corresponding matrix of magnets are fixed to the stator. The rotor,
stator, Wiegand modules and magnets are arranged such that with
each rotation of the rotor, the Wiegand modules will approach and
pass in proximity to a plurality of magnets whereby during
rotation, each Wiegand wire will see a continuous series of
appropriate excursions in magnetic field strength resulting in the
generation of continuous series of voltage pulses. Each of the pair
of leads extending from each of the pick-up coils of each Wiegand
module is connected to a corresponding one of the pair of grids,
respectively, through suitably arranged circuitry whereby the
generated voltages are summed and impressed across the pair of
grids.
In operation, the apparatus is immersed into a body of ionizable
water until the tube is substantially entirely immersed therein
with only its upper end extending into the atmosphere and with the
electrolysis assembly being situated at the lower immersed end. It
will be understood that the interior of the tube as well as the
interior chamber of the electrolysis assembly is initially devoid
of water. After immersion, water enters the lowermost end of the
electrolysis assembly and begins to flow upwardly under equilibrium
forces and passes the propellers which are thereby caused to rotate
which in turn rotates the rotor through an appropriate
transmission. Rotation of the rotor results in appropriate voltages
being generated by the Wiegand modules which are impressed across
the pair of electrolysis grids which act as electrodes to
electrolyze the water as the same rises into contact therewith, the
hydrogen and oxygen gases being formed by the electrolysis being
transmitted upwardly through the tube to exit from the upper end
thereof.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
A more complete appreciation of the present invention and many of
the attendant advantages thereof will be readily appreciated as the
same becomes better understood by reference to the following
detailed description when considered in connection with the
accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a Wiegand module and associated
magnet illustrating the operation thereof;
FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the apparatus of the present
invention;
FIG. 3 is a schematic view illustrating in detail the construction
of the electrolysis assembly of the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the rotor of the electrolysis
assembly of the present invention illustrating the Wiegand modules
circuitry associated therewith;
FIG. 5 is a partial section view of the rotor of the electrolysis
assembly of the present invention; and
FIG. 6 is a section view taken along lines VI--VI of FIG. 3 and
illustrating the electrolysis grids.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring now to the drawings wherein like reference characters
designate identical or corresponding parts throughout the several
views, FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a Wiegand module 10
constituted by a Wiegand wire 12 having a pickup coil 14 wound
around the same. One end of Wiegand module 10 is embedded in a
plate 16. A pair of permanent magnets 18a and 18b are embedded at
their reversed polarity ends in a separate plate 20. It will be
understood by a person skilled in the art that when plate 16 is
moved relative to plate 20 as designated by arrow A so that the
Wiegand module 10 passes between magnets 18a and 18b, voltage is
generated in the pickup coil 14. The particular design
characteristics of the Wiegand module and associated magnets are
chosen in the instant application so as to provide a suitable
voltage that will be readily ascertainable by a person skilled in
the art, such as through experimentation. It is sufficient to note
herein that in all cases, the Wiegand module 10 must see an
excursion in field strength from one value to another, and from one
orientation to another, in that the magnetic field should be about
the same length as the Wiegand wire or Wiegand module and should be
substantially parallel to it. Further discussion of the principle
and theory of the Wiegand effect is beyond the scope of the instant
application, it being understood that those skilled in the art will
readily understand the manner in which the dimensions, gauss levels
of the magnets and other design criteria can be obtained for its
use herein.
Referring now to FIG. 2, the apparatus 22 of the present invention
comprises a tube 24 preferably having a cylindrical configuration
over the major portion 26 of its length. For example, the
cylindrical portion 26 of tube 24 may have a length of about 130
feet. An assembly 28 for electrolyzing water forms a terminal
extension of tube 24. As described in detail below, electrolyzing
assembly 28 incorporates a matrix of Wiegand modules and magnets
provided on rotor and stator structure. In the operation of the
apparatus which will also be described in detail below, the tube
24, whose interior is devoid of water, is immersed in a body of
water 30 until it obtains a substantially vertical orientation and
so that only its uppermost extends out of the water. As soon as
this positioning is completed, water will begin to rush into the
bottom of the tube 24 into an interior chamber defined within the
electrolyzing assembly 28 under the equilibrium forces whereby
water tends to seek its own level. The rush of incoming water
rotates propeller blades which are mounted within the interior
chamber which rotates the rotor through a suitable transmission.
This results in the Wiegand module "seeing" an appropriately
varying magnetic field whereby a voltage is generated which is
impressed across a pair of grids 32a and 32b which extend
transversely across the interior chamber of assembly 28. The water
reaching grids 32 is electrolyzed with resulting hydrogen and
oxygen gas being collected as it exits from the upper end of tube
24. Since substantially entirely all of the water is electrolyzed,
the process will continue for long periods of time as the water
will contintinuously rush into the lower end of tube 24.
Turning now to FIGS. 3-6, the illustrated embodiment of the
apparatus 22 of the invention includes tube 24 whose major portion
26 has a substantially cylindrical configuration. Tube 24
terminates at its lower end in the electrolyzing assembly 28. More
particularly, electrolyzing assembly 28 comprises a substantially
closed double-wall shell-like structure 34. This shell-like
structure 34 is defined by an outer wall or stator 36 which
integrally extends from and is thereby supported by tube portion 26
and an inner wall or stator 38 which follows the shape of the outer
stator 36. The shell-like structure 34 has an outer configuration
which is preferably that of a pair of cones connected at their
bases and which defines an interior chamber 40 there within. A
reduced diameter opening 42 is provided at the lowermost end of the
shell-like structure 34 through which water can enter into chamber
40.
A rotor 44 formed by a single wall having a similar double cone
configuration is situated in the space defined between the outer
and inner stators 36 and 38 and is rotatably mounted to a
cylindrical extension 50 of the tubular portion 26 coaxially
therewith by bearings 46 and 48 within that space. An annular
flange 52 of rotor 44 extends inwardly into the uppermost region of
chamber 40 through an annular slot 54 defined between the lower
edge of cylindrical extension 50 and the upper edge of inner stator
38. A pair of seals 56 and 58 are provided for fluidly sealing the
space between the outer and inner stator 36 and 38 from the chamber
40 and yet which permit rotation of rotor 44.
A drive mechanism, generally designated 60, is provided within
chamber 40 and includes a shaft 62 having three propeller blades
fixed thereto. An upper propeller blade 64 is fixed to the upper
region of shaft 62 and has an outer circumferentially extending rim
66 which is coupled to the inner edge of flange 52 thereby
rotatably mounting the shaft 62 as shown. It is seen that rotation
of shaft 62 will result in the rotation of rotor 44 through the
upper propeller 64, rim 66, and flange 52. Of course, other
transmissions may be utilized such, for example, as a so-called
nutating transmission for transmitting the rotation of shaft 62 to
rotor 44.
An intermediate, larger diameter propeller 68 is fixed to shaft 62
somewhat below the large diameter mid-section of chamber 40. A
third, lower propeller 70 is fixed to the lower region of shaft 62
and is situated within the opening 42 defined by the shell-like
structure 34. A screen-like filter 72 extends across opening 42 for
reasons discussed below.
The number of blades in each of the propellers 64, 68 and 70 as
well as the particular configuration thereof is determined
according to their function. Thus, as water enters chamber 40
through opening 42 under the equilibrium forces acting thereon, the
lower propeller 70 is cause to rotate thereby initiating the
rotation of shaft 62 and, therefore, of rotor 44. As the water
continues to fill the chamber 40, it passes through the larger
diameter propeller 68 which is designed so as to rotate the shaft
62 and rotor 44 at the final desired speed. The water then rises to
the level of grids 32a and 32b over which a voltage has been
impressed as discussed below whereby the water is electrolyzed. The
hydrogen and oxygen gas formed passes upwardly past upper propeller
64 which is appropriately designed to adjust the rate at which the
gas flows outwardly from the chamber 40.
Referring to FIGS. 3-5, a plurality of Wiegand modules 74 are fixed
in a regular pattern on both the inwardly and outwardly facing
surfaces of the rotor 44. As seen in FIG. 4 which illustrates the
matrix of Wiegand modules provided on the outer surface of rotor
44, the Wiegand modules are fixed to the rotor in circular arrays
extending horizontally around the rotor. It is understood that a
similar matrix of Wiegand modules are provided on the inner surface
of rotor 44 as best seen in FIG. 3. The positive lead 76 of each
Wiegand module 74 is connected to vertically extending main
positive conductors 78 while the negative leads 80 of the Wiegand
modules 74 are connected to respective main negative conductors 82.
The main positive and negative conductors 78 and 82 terminate at
respective interconnecting conductors 84 and 86, respectively which
are in turn connected to respective conducting rims 88 and 90 (FIG.
3) which extend around the inner surface of rotor 44 at the major
diameter portion thereof.
A plurality of pairs of magnets 92 are fixed to the outer and inner
stators 36 and 38 to form respective matrixes. The matrixes of
magnet pairs 92 are provided in a pattern such that each magnet
pair 92 corresponds to a particular Wiegand module 74 in a manner
such that as the rotor 44 rotates, the Wiegand modules 74 will pass
between respective magnet pairs 92 simultaneously. It is therefore
seen that during one revolution of the rotor 44, a particular
Wiegand module 74 will see an excursion in magnetic field strength
from one value to another and from one orientation to another as it
passes through a particular magnet pair 92 given rise to a sharp
electrical pulse and that a plurality of such pulses will be
generated by a particular module during each revolution of the
rotor 44. Thus, during rotation of rotor 44, a continuous series of
positive and negative electrical pulses will be transmitted through
the main positive and negative conductors 78 and 82 and positive
and negative interconnecting conductors 84 and 86 to the respective
positive and negative conducting rims 88 and 90. When the rotor 44
is rotating at its appropriate speed, an appropriate potential
difference or voltage generated between the positive and negative
conducting rims 88 and 90.
Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 6, a pair of grids 32a and 32b extend
transversely across chamber 40 at the major diameter portion
thereof. In the illustrated embodiment, grids 32a and 32b comprise
conductors which follow a serpentine path and which are vertically
spaced one over the other in close proximity to each other. One end
94 of grid 32a is connected to a conductive roller assembly 96
which includes a roller 98 adapted to roll over the positive
conducting rim 88, the other end 100 of grid 32a being insulatingly
connected to the inner stator 38. Similarly, one end 102 of grid
32b is connected to a conductive roller assembly 104 which
continuously engages the negative conducting rim 90, the other end
106 of grid 32b being insulatingly connected to the stator 38.
It will be seen from the foregoing that as the rotor 44 rotates, a
potential difference will be applied over conducting rims 88 and 90
which will be impressed over the respective grids 32a and 32b
through the conductive roller assemblies 96 and 104. Accordingly,
during rotation of rotor 44, the grids 32a and 32b will act as an
anode and cathode, respectively.
In operation, apparatus 22 is immersed into a body of ionizable
water until the tube 24 extends substantially vertically with the
upper end extending into the atmosphere. Water will begin to rush
into the chamber 40 under equilibrium forces through filter 72
which prevents the entry into chamber 40 of unwanted solid
materials such as plankton, fish, etc. The opening 42 is
appropriately sized to adjust the amount of water entering into
chamber 40. As the water rises within chamber 40, it passes the
lower and intermediate propellers 70 and 68 thereby initiating
rotation of shaft 62 and, consequently, rotor 44 through the
transmission connection 66 of upper propeller 64. A fly wheel may
be provided to conserve the rotational energy acquired by the
rotor. The Wiegand modules are of course rotating through the
magnetic fields of the magnet pairs 92 generating a substantially
continuous series of positive and negative pulses which are applied
to the grids 32a and 32b in the manner described above. By the time
water reaches the level of grids 32a and 32b, an appropriate
potential difference is impressed across the grids to electrolyze
the water reaching the same. In this manner, the water is broken
down into hydrogen and oxygen gas which passes through the
cylindrical portion 26 of tube 24 exiting from the same at its
upper end.
It is seen from the foregoing that electrolysis of water is
obtained without the necessity of an external power source using
the equilibrium forces acting on the water through the apparatus. A
suitable valve may be provided in opening 42 in order to control
the entry of water into chamber 40. Further, the present invention
is not limited to the particular embodiment illustrated in the
drawing. For example, the electrolyzing assembly 28 may be provided
with a plurality of rotors and stators to provide increased
electrical energy through the provision of additional Wiegand
modules and magnet pairs. The permanent magnet comprising magnet
pairs 92 may be replaced by suitable electro magnets. Further,
other arrangements for providing the varying magnetic field seen by
the Wiegand modules may be utilized such, for example, as a
rotating shunt or the like.
Obviously, numerous modifications and variations of the present
invention are possible in the light of the above teachings. It is
therefore to be understood that within the scope of the claims
appended hereto, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as
specifically disclosed herein.
* * * * *